Adrian Kingsley-Hughes/ZDNET
Rision Thermal Camera
4.0
Pros & Cons
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Good thermal range and accuracy. -
Can differentiate temperatures as close as 0.04°C. -
Upscales to 320 x 240 QuadIR resolution. -
Connects via USB-C to iOS, Android, or Windows devices.
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Doesn’t connect to Mac or Linux devices. -
USB-C might not work with phones in a rugged case.
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Predator was one of those movies that I watched until I’d worn out the VHS tape. One thing that stuck with me was the thermal vision scenes. I clearly remember thinking how awesome, not to mention handy, it would be to have thermal vision.
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Now, I do. And so can you. What’s more, you don’t have to fight an intergalactic warrior to get it. You can pick up a thermal camera from Amazon. And not only that, but the Rision Magic is far more advanced than the tech that Predator’s angry alien had built into its helmet.
There’s more to thermal cameras
I remember the first thermal camera I bought. It was a Flir handheld unit that set me back quite a lot of money. Someone who owned one sold me the benefits of the device. However, I wasn’t convinced the unit would be as useful as they said.
Yet it was useful — and more. Being able to “see” heat (and cold) unlocks a world of diagnostics that was previously only available to space aliens. I’ve used thermal cameras to spot overheating wiring and components, identify worn-out bearings, pinpoint dodgy components in HVAC systems, see studs, joists, and pipework in walls (there’s a thermal difference that shows up), spot gaps in insulation and draught strips, narrow down dying cells in a battery pack (they run at a different temperature to ones that work), and much more.
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The trick with thermal cameras is to use them in your daily life. Keep the device with you, point it at things that are working, and you’ll learn to spot the differences when they’re not working. It’s a great idea to have a camera you can carry, either built into your phone or on a small dongle you can attach to your phone.
Since we are rarely more than an arm’s length from a phone, it makes sense to have a thermal camera connected to your smartphone. Few people choose a smartphone just because it has a thermal camera. So, having it as a dongle makes sense. Also, as a dongle, there’s no separate device to keep charged.
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With this setup, you can dip into the invisible thermal world whenever the fancy takes you.
The Rision Magic thermal imager
The Rision Magic is a thermal imager that connects via USB-C to iOS, Android, or Windows devices (Mac and Linux users are out of luck with this one, which is a shame). You load the app onto your device, plug it in, and get started. No sign-up or registration is needed, which I like because it’s mostly unnecessary for a device like this.
The Magic has a native 160 x 120 thermal sensor that upscales to 320 x 240 QuadIR resolution for finer detail, which can be important for diagnostics. The imager also offers a silky-smooth 25Hz refresh rate, so you don’t get lost when looking around, and if you’re recording a video, the output won’t be jerky and hard to follow.
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Thermal range and accuracy are also good. It has a range of -4°F to 1112°F (that’s -20°C to 600°C), and an accuracy of ±3.6°F. The Magic also has a heat sensitivity of 40mK, meaning it can differentiate temperature differences of 0.04°C between adjacent points. This figure is at the better end for a consumer/prosumer thermal imager.
The app lets you switch between visible and thermal, and a combined hybrid mode called AI BiSpectrix. That’s quite a mouthful, but it gives you the best view of whatever you’re looking at.
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The app also lets you see high and low temps on specific spots, lines, and areas of the image, which is handy for focusing on a specific area. You can tweak emissivity to get a better reading from a wide range of surfaces. The app also gives you access to temperature monitoring charts, which isn’t a feature I’ve seen on many consumer/prosumer thermal imagers.
Another stumbling block with many thermal imaging dongles is their standard USB-C connector. The connector is often too short to fit onto a smartphone in a case. Rision fit its camera with an extended connector that works for most cases (not mine, but I do have the thickest, chunkiest OtterBox case).
The kit comes with a zip-up padded carry case and a USB cable for hooking up the camera when you want it separate from the device (unfortunately, the USB-C connector in this cable is standard, so you’ll have problems using it to connect it to a device in a rugged case).
ZDNET’s buying advice
I think that every fixer and DIYer could benefit from a thermal camera, because they’re up there with the screwdriver or multimeter as a must-have. Yes, they take some experience, but once you’ve got it figured out, this tool is worth its weight in gold.
The Rision Magic is magic by name and nature. For $200, you get a pro-grade tool that works on a wide variety of platforms and comes with an app that delivers lots of features. Sure, you can get a professional thermal camera that is bigger, more accurate, and has more features. But you can expect an extra zero on the end of the price tag.
